Alternate Endings
by Dixie990
Summary: An alternative ending to ME3 for all the fans who like me, were NOT happy with the  official game ending. ME3 SPOILERS!


**Alternate Endings**

**This fanfic is an alternate ending for ME 3. I don't know about my fellow fans, but the game was great… aside for that last 20 odd minutes at the end… which were SHIT! I mean… really awful. -_- So here is my humble submission of what SHOULD have happened. **

**My Shepard is female Paragon, and is in a romantic entanglement with Garrus, Ashley survived Virmire.**

"Best seats in the house…" She gasped,

"I've always been proud of you child." Anderson managed to croak.

"Its been an honour sir… Anderson?" He was silent. She glanced at his broken form, and sighed. He was gone. She didn't cry, her heart didn't break… she had no strength left for any of that. She had hardly any strength left at all. She looked down at herself, taking in the bruises, the breaks and the blood… god… all that blood. It glistened up at her from her hands, crimson… and final…She closed her eyes, letting her head fall back, and letting her mind drift to her handsome Turian.

"Commander? Commander Shepard?" The strong voice bought her sharply back to reality; her wounds throbbed painfully, reminding her she was still alive, if only for now.

"What do you need Admiral?" she gasped, trying to pull herself up; to ready herself to follow whatever command Hackett gave her.

"The crucible, its not firing, it must be something on your end!"

"I'll get it done sir…" She gasped, crawling towards the console in front of her. She had to make it, he was counting on her to make it, the galaxy needed her… Garrus needed her.

With the last of her strength she reached up and grabbed the end of the console, hoisting herself up to her knees so she could see the display. "Edi… can you hear me?"

"Yes Commander."

"I'm sending control to the Normandy… you have to…" She paused to choke, blood splattering from her lips to the keys in front of her. "You have too…"

"I will fix the problem commander… connection made… analysing…" Hearing her friends confirmation was enough. She let go of the console and fell backwards, staring up at the stars… the reapers, the explosions… the battle.

"I have rectified errors in the crucibles firing mechanisms…" Edi said through the comm.

"Take those bastards out…" She moaned.

"Firing crucible."

And fire it did; bright, beautiful blue energy flashed from the cannon, flowing out three hundred and sixty degrees in an incredible halo of power. It arched out grabbing at the reapers, crushing them under powerful mass effect fields. Shepard smiled, watching one above her explode into red light. It was over. The galaxy was safe. She sighed, closing her eyes.

"Commander, what's your position?" It was Joker this time.

"Citadel." She gasped out. "Get out of here Joker…"

"Negative Ma'am, Garrus is here and he's holding the cockpit hostage… You know… not that Edi and I need to be held hostage."

She smiled, her skin burning with the motion. "Garrus is ok?" She asked.

"I'm fine Shepard, send up your co-ordinates, we'll get you out." His deep, two toned voice was like the best painkiller she'd ever had. Her heart swelled and beat more ferociously, determined to keep beating until he was there.

"I'm in the central chamber…I can't…I…" She wanted so badly to do as he asked, to move one last time…

"I might be able to trace the commanders location using the crucibles connection to the Normandy…" Edi said.

"Do it. Just hang on Shepard, we're coming for you…don't you dare die… not after everything we've done… just…" She didn't hear the rest, his soft voice had lulled her to the blackness that had threatened.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Sound was the first thing she became aware off. Bleeping noises, the whirring of machinery. Then it was smell, the clean, disinfected smell that came with hospitals; except this one was special… it was familiar. The vaguest hint of perfume in the air, roses…a name floated to mind. Chakwas. Dr Chakwas wore rose perfume.

Her head felt… stiff, groggy, she couldn't move, couldn't open her eyes. She groaned.

"Shepard!" Touch… that was the next sense. A talon hand grasping her own in a vice like grip. "Chakwas! She's waking up." Garrus's voice was full of demanding urgency.

"She's alright." Chakwas said. "She's got every painkiller I can give her. I can't keep her under till she's fully healed…"

She pulled her eyes open, and immediately regretted it, the blinding white light of the med bay making her eyes ache, and she groaned again. "Garrus…" She managed to gasp.

"I'm here Shepard." His form came into focus. He was leaning over her, his hands grasping at hers, his eyes full of fear and worry.

She smiled at him. "I'm ok Garrus." She watched the fear drain out of his face a little. "I'm alright… what happened… how did you…I remember trying to get to the conduit…"

"Yeah, the reaper attacked us, we had to dodge its damn lasers…" he sat back in his chair and looked away. Shepard noticed a thick bandage on his arm and shoulders. He looked tired, there were scratches on his fringe, and a deep gash on the side of his face that wasn't scarred. "James… didn't make it." He said after a long minute. "I ended up under one of the tanks… I saw you get up and go though…" he flared his mandibles at her, the turian equivalent of a bright, proud smile. He reached down to run one of his talons through her hair "you were amazing Shepard."

"Couldn't have done it without you… no Shepard without Vakerian remember."

He smiled again, chuckling a little. "Yeah… right. Next thing I knew Edi, Tali and Ash came down in a shuttle looking for me and James. Liara had managed to hack into our omnitools to trace us or something…they got us back to the Normandy anyway. James died about an hour later, Chakwas patched me up and I got to the bridge just as you were contacting Edi… you got the crucible going, then we came to get you. Tali, Liara and me…"

"And the reapers?"

"All gone. The crucible targeted massive reaper energy signatures and destroyed the sources. Left the Geth intact, damaged the mass relays pretty bad, but we think we can fix those."

Shepard managed a smile. "So… its finally over."

"Hardly. The galaxy is in pretty bad shape… but we're in a pretty good place to start." he smiled again. "We stopped the reapers though, saved all organic life…"

She returned his smile, though it pained her to do so. "So… tropical climate and turian human babies?"

He laughed. "Well… if you can stand my new scars."

"You crazy… you know how they drive me wild…" she reached up to him, and he took the hint, leaning down to let her press a kiss to his mouth.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

"We'll need you to go negotiate the demands with the krogan, you know Wrex best… maybe you can talk him down. The Terminus system is reporting massive instability… Alliance brass are looking to fill Andersons shoes… they want to offer the position to you… Admiral." Hackett was debriefing her in the comm room. It had taken her weeks to recover, even now Chakwas wasn't happy that she was back to work. Hell, she wasn't happy she was back to work. Her thoughts wondered to the Turian in the main battery, calibrating as usual. She knew he's been getting similar calls from Primarch Victus. The weight of the war still weighed on her shoulders, hadn't she done enough? God… it hardly seemed fair.

Suddenly, she held up a hand. "Admiral…" She interrupted him. "I'm honoured by the offer really I am, but… I'm retiring, I think I deserve that much. There are plenty of fine alliance soldiers out there still up for fighting the good fight. Have you considered Ashley Williams?"

Hackett looked disappointed but unsurprised. "Can't say I blame you Shepard. I'll look at Ashley's files personally. What will you do now then Commander?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I dunno… go somewhere tropical, maybe find out what a turian human baby looks like."

Hackett laughed. "I heard about that. Well, good luck to you Commander." he saluted her.

She returned the gesture. "It was an honour serving with you Admiral."

**So that's my version of things, simpler sure, but at least it's a happy ending right? And hell, maybe there will be war later, but then… that's for another hero to deal with. I dunno about anyone else, but I think Shepard Deserves a happy ending. Shame on you Bioware, shame on you! Don't get me wrong, loved the games though… right up to that last bit! Anyway, I plan to post this story with a second chapter in the 'M' rated section with the hope of including a romance scene later on. Keep rockin my fellow fans!**


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